The 2011 season was the Chicago Bears' 92nd in the National Football League (NFL) and their eighth under head coach Lovie Smith. The defending NFC North champion Bears attempted a return to the playoffs after falling in the NFC Championship Game to their arch-rival Green Bay Packers in 2010. The Bears were scheduled to appear in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game but due to the lockout, the game was cancelled. The Bears traveled to Wembley Stadium in London to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL International Series and played the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day evening in the only scheduled game on that day. Despite starting the season with a 7–3 record, starting quarterback Jay Cutler broke the thumb on his throwing hand and was forced to undergo season-ending surgery. After losing Cutler for the rest of the year, the Bears went 1–5, finishing the season with an 8–8 record and not qualifying for the playoffs. The season would begin somewhat of a lengthy playoff drought for the organization, as they would not return to the playoffs again until 2018.

Offseason

After the 2010 season ended, the NFL entered its longest work stoppage in history. The lockout began after a failure to reach an agreement between the owners and the union in early March. Both sides agreed to extend the deadline another week. However, the talks broke down and the union officially decertified, after which a group of 10 players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league. After months of failed negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement in late July. The owners announced on July 21 that it had approved a new collective bargaining agreement by a 31–0–1 margin (the Oakland Raiders abstained). On July 25, the players association's executive board voted to approve the new collective agreement and the players voted to ratify it on August 4. The delayed start to the season brought free agency and the opening of training camps to coincide. This gave clubs a short period of time to get a full roster signed before camp opened.

Roster changes

Coaching changes On January 31, defensive line coach Eric Washington left the team to take the same position with the Carolina Panthers. On February 3, the Bears hired Mike Phair as their new defensive line coach.

Acquisitions On July 29, the Bears signed former Dallas Cowboys WR Roy Williams, former Pittsburgh Steelers TE Matt Spaeth for a three-year deal, former Jacksonville Jaguars P Adam Podlesh for a five-year deal, and former New York Jets DE Vernon Gholston. On July 29, the Bears agreed to three-year contracts with DE Jake Laptad, TE Draylen Ross, RB Dan Dierking and T Mike Lamphear. On July 30, the Bears signed former Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber and former Houston Texans DT Amobi Okoye. On July 31, the Bears signed former Seattle Seahawks C Chris Spencer. On August 2, the Bears resigned TE Desmond Clark on a 1-year deal. On September 4, the Bears signed S Brandon Meriweather.

Departures On July 28, the Bears released TE Brandon Manumaleuna after a failed physical. On July 30, the Bears waived G Herman Johnson On August 1, the Bears waived P Richmond McGee and DT Sean Murnane. On August 2, the Bears waived S K.J. Gerard. On August 3, the Bears waived TE Draylen Ross. On August 8, the Bears waived RB Dan Dierking and QB Matt Gutierrez. On October 27, the Bears released S Chris Harris. On December 16, the Bears released WR Sam Hurd.

Free agents

Position Player Free agencytag Date signed 2011 team DT Anthony Adams UFA July 29 Chicago Bears WR Devin Aromashodu UFA July 26 Minnesota Vikings RB Kahlil Bell ERFA July 29 Chicago Bears SS Josh Bullocks UFA August 15 Oakland Raiders TE Desmond Clark UFA August 2 Chicago Bears QB Todd Collins UFA — — WR Rashied Davis UFA July 27 Detroit Lions CB Corey Graham UFA July 30 Chicago Bears QB Caleb Hanie RFA July 29 Chicago Bears OLB Brian Iwuh UFA July 31 Chicago Bears C Olin Kreutz UFA August 5 New Orleans Saints SS Danieal Manning UFA July 27 Houston TexansTE/FBBrandon ManumaleunaUFA - - P Brad Maynard UFA August 1 Houston Texans OLB Nick Roach UFA July 29 Chicago Bears OLB Pisa Tinoisamoa UFA — — G/C Edwin Williams ERFA July 29 Chicago Bears OLB Rod Wilson UFA — — RB Garrett Wolfe UFA — —RFA: Restricted free agent, UFA: Unrestricted free agent, ERFA: Exclusive rights free agent

Trades On July 28, the Bears traded TE Greg Olsen to the Carolina Panthers for a 2012 third-round draft pick.

Draft

Draft Notes: Washington traded its second- (#53) round pick this selection to Chicago for Chicago's second- (#62) and fourth-round (#127) selections. The Bears forfeited their seventh-round selection, due to the use of a seventh-round selection in the 2010 Supplemental draft.

Undrafted free agents Following the end of the lockout, the Bears announced coming to terms with 26 undrafted free agents.

Kris Adams, WR, (UTEP) Kyle Adams, TE, (Purdue) Mario Addison, DE, (Troy) Tanner Antle, LB, (Tulsa) Tressor Baptiste, LB, (Texas A&M–Kingsville) JC Brignone, C, (Mississippi State) Antareis Bryan, CB, (Baylor) Corbin Bryant, DL, (Northwestern) Travis Cobb, WR, (Arizona) Josh Davis, T, (Georgia) Dom DeCicco, LB, (Pittsburgh) Ricky Henry, G, (Nebraska) Mike Holmes, CB, (Syracuse) Robert Hughes, RB, (Notre Dame) Ryan Jones, CB, (NW Missouri State) Spencer Lanning, P, (South Carolina) Alex Linnenkohl, C, (Oregon State) Jordan Miller, DT, (Southern) Deron Minor, LB, (McNeese State) Sean Murnane, DT, (Central Michigan) Dane Sanzenbacher, WR, (Ohio State) Andre Smith, TE, (Virginia Tech) Winston Venable, S, (Boise State) Trevor Vittatoe, QB, (UTEP) Anthony Walters, S, (Delaware) Jimmy Young, WR, (TCU)

Personnel

Staff Chicago Bears 2011 staff Front office Secretary of the board of directors – Virginia Halas McCaskey Chairman – George McCaskey President/CEO – Ted Phillips General manager – Jerry Angelo Director of player personnel – Tim Ruskell Senior director of football administration/general counsel – Cliff Stein Assistant director of pro personnel – Kevin Turks Area scout – Chris Ballard Area scout – Marty Barrett Area scout – Rex Hogan Area scout – Mark Sadowski

Head coaches Head coach – Lovie Smith Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator – Rod Marinelli

Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Mike Martz Quarterbacks – Shane Day Running backs – Tim Spencer Wide receivers – Darryl Drake Tight ends – Mike DeBord Offensive line – Mike Tice Offensive quality control – Andrew Hayes-Stoker Defensive coaches Defensive line – Mike Phair Linebackers – Bob Babich Defensive backs – Jon Hoke Assistant Defensive Backs (Safeties) – Gill Byrd Defensive quality control – Mikal Smith

Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Dave Toub Assistant special teams – Kevin O'Dea

Strength and conditioning Director of physical development – Rusty Jones Strength and conditioning – Jim Arthur

Final roster

Current depth chart Current official depth chart announced by the club before the first game of the season against the Atlanta Falcons

Preseason

Training camp The Bears held training camp once again at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The club has held annual training camp activities at the university since 2002. The franchise opened up training camp with an expanded roster of 90 players. Over the next month players competed for spots on the final roster. By August 30, the club had cut down players from 90 to 75 after the third preseason game. It was though announced on August 20, the roster cuts would be changed from 75 to 80 players. The franchise then had to make another round of cuts at the conclusion of the fourth preseason game on September 3. The final roster consisted of 53 players. The Bears wrapped up training camp with a final public practice on August 19 before heading back to team headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois. The practice marked the end of the team's three-week training camp in Bourbonnais.

Soldier Field turf issue The club had scheduled an evening practice at Soldier Field in front of fans in an event called "Family Fest". However, the event was cancelled hours before the event was scheduled to begin due to the unsafe playing conditions at Soldier Field. This is not the first incident related to the playing surface at the stadium. Brian Urlacher and other players have called for the surface to be changed from natural grass to artificial FieldTurf. Chicago's mayor Rahm Emanuel has called on the Chicago Park District to find a permanent solution to the decades-old turf battle at the venue. However, Bears chairman George McCaskey has stated on record that the playing surface at Soldier Field will not change from grass to an artificial surface. McCaskey cited fewer injuries occur on natural grass and therefore believes the natural grass surface prolongs players' careers. He did admit a poorly maintained grass surface is unacceptable and promised the club will take a more active role in maintaining the playing surface so the field can be for home games. In Week 13, the field was resodded for the Bears-Chiefs game.

Schedule Even though the league was in the midst of the lockout, the NFL announced the Bears' preseason schedule on April 12, 2011. The schedule contained the traditional four opponents and a fifth game to be played during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2011 induction weekend. The first scheduled preseason game for the Bears was to be the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the St. Louis Rams. However, with the lockout lingering into late July resulting in a delayed start to training camp, the NFL cancelled the game. The Bears won their first preseason game defeating the Buffalo Bills 10–3. The offensive line struggled in the game while giving up nine sacks over the course of the game. The Bears continued their preseason campaign with a visit to New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey to take on the New York Giants. The offensive line improved in the game by allowing only one sack of Cutler compared to the nine they gave up in a game last year. Cutler even joked about the experience by responding "Yeah, upright" to the question asked to him if this game against the Giants felt any different than last year's debacle. Cutler did express pleasure with the performance of the two young tackles, Webb and Carimi, when asked to assess their performance during preseason. The team did however fail to score twice inside the red zone in the 1st half against the Giants in a 41–13 loss. The game also saw the Bears had a punt blocked by the Giants and newly signed WR Roy Williams drop the first two passes thrown to him in his Bears career. In the third game, the Bears's first team offense showed more effectiveness than in previous games. The offensive starters racked up 239 yards in the first half. The team wrapped up the preseason season against the Browns by sitting out many key starters with instead going with various second-, third-, and even fourth-stringers in a very warm and humid night in Chicago. On September 4, a day after rosters were trimmed down to 53 men, the Bears signed former first-round draft pick and two-time Pro Bowler safety Brandon Meriweather, who was released by the New England Patriots the previous day. In response to adding Meriweather, the Bears released corner back Joshua Moore to keep the roster at 53 men.

Week Date Kickoff (CDT) Opponent Results Game site NFL.comGameBook NFL.comRecap Final score Team record HOF August 7 7:00 p.m. vs. St. Louis Rams Cancelled due to the 2011 NFL Lockout 1 August 13 7:00 p.m. Buffalo Bills W 10–3 1–0 Soldier Field Gamebook Recap 2 August 22 7:00 p.m. at New York Giants L 13–41 1–1 New Meadowlands Stadium Gamebook Recap 3 August 27 7:00 p.m. at Tennessee Titans L 13–14 1–2 LP Field Gamebook Recap 4 September 1 7:00 p.m. Cleveland Browns W 24–14 2–2 Soldier Field Gamebook Recap

Regular season

Season summary

Schedule